Without Mike Piazza, the Mets would be shorn of the one marquee name they have left in their lineup.

Has Mike Piazza reached the limit of his patience
with the Mets? Long Island Newsday is reporting that a
"source" familiar with the Piazza situation has
indicated the sure-thing Hall of Famer is about to ask
for a trade. What appears to be at the root of the
matter is his reluctance to switch to first base.
Apparently, Piazza would like to continue catching,
albeit in a reduced role. The rest of the time he
would like to avail himself of the semi-rest that
DHing would afford him. Obviously, this would
necessitate a trade to an American League team.
Baltimore is the team most often mentioned in
conjunction with a final destination. The Orioles were
rebuffed a year ago in their attempts to land
baseball's other most-famous catcher: Pudge Rodriguez.

This is the eighth season in which Mike Piazza is a member of the Mets.

The Mets owe Piazza another $30 and seem bent on
paying it. A brief note in the New York Daily News
says the Mets have no intention of trading him and
would not comment on the Newsday story. While other
teams are reducing payroll actively, the Mets are
doing so reactively but not chasing some of the bigger
names in the free agent market as they have in the
past. Disastrous new hires have been the undoing of
the club in the past two seasons and they are
understandably gun shy. Without Piazza, the Mets would
be shorn of the one marquee name they have left in
their lineup, so it is also understandable that they
would want to keep him around, even when a certain
logic would be to allow a 35-year old catcher making a
barnload of money go away.

Piazza remains the most popular Mets player and his
loss for the better part of 2003 was among the many
lowlights of their dismal year. When he's healthy he
can still mash a ball with the best of them. The
question is, how healthy is he going to be from here
on out? After appearing in at least 135 games for
seven consecutive seasons, Piazza was limited to 273
plate appearances last year by a groin injury. This is
the downfall of being an offensive-minded catcher:
when the travails associated with the position take
their toll, there isn't a whole lot left to show.